In new light
by WonderBoyRobin
Summary: Pony comes home to find that Darry's old school friends are over for a poker game.


Pony walked into his house gingerly. It was a little past midnight, and Pony was scared when he noticed the lights still on. He instantly heard loud laughing, and talking someone from the kitchen. Frowning, Pony tentatively he made his way to poke his head in the doorway.

Darry was sitting around the table with about five other men that were around his age. The six of them were playing poker, drinking, and smoking. To Pony's surprise, Darry was laughing so hard he had to lean agents the table for support.

Pony stared at his older brother in shock. He had never seen Darry laugh so hard. He looked around at the empty beer bottles on the table, and wondered how sober his older brother was right then.

He thought about sneaking off to the bedroom he, and Soda shared, but before Pony could get out of the doorway, one of the men spotted him. "Well I'll be. Don't tell me that's little Sodapop? The kid hasn't changed."

The man grinned at Pony as the other men, and Darry looked up at him. Derry waked the man in the shoulder a half annoyed look in his eyes. "No you idiot, that's Ponyboy, Soda's sixteen now. Pony, come over here."

Biting his lip, Pony walked over to his brother's side, fully expecting a lecher for being late. Instead he nearly let out a little yelp of surprise when Darry raped his arm around him, and pulled him down onto his knee like he was a little kid again. And in front of all these men.

Pony shortly wondered if it was possible to die from embarrassment. "Ya'll remember Pony, right?" The men were all looking at him, studding him, before they all broke into happy, almost teasing, grins.

"There is no way that's you're little baby there Dare! He's far too old! This is a young man here, not that little baby Soda used to bring to all the games to cheer you on!" Pony frowned as he looked from the grinning strangers to his older brother, who had a rare look of pride to his face.

He couldn't figure out why these men were calling him Darry's baby, or why Darry seemed so happy about it. The older man placed his head on Pony's shoulder, grinning. "Ya it's him, he grew up you idiots."

One of the men, a big, burly looking one, eyed him over a bit. "Doesn't say much does he?" Darry rolled his eyes, pulling Pony closer to him in a protective way that Pony wasn't used to getting from him. Soda yes, Darry no.

"Will he hasn't seen you lot since he was a little boy, and I was in high school." Pony blinked, understanding downing on him now. These men were Darry's old friends from high school. It had been so ling since the last time he had seen theme that he hadn't recognized theme.

"Pony you recognize the boy's from the football team don't ya?" Darry looked down at him smiling. When Pony shook his head he just ruffled his hair, and started naming of his friends from right to left.

"You remember Mark, Josh, Taller, Michal, and Christ, Pone! Remember going to my football games with Soda?" I nodded my head a little. "Sort of." To be honest Pony really didn't remember a whole lot about going to the football games.

He remembered Soda always telling him to cheer for Darry, and then carrying him down after the game to the failed, but that was about it. Mark, who was sitting on Darry's right, smacked Darry on the shoulder playfully.

"Don't tell me you don't remember this big lug here always placing you on your shoulder's after the games." At my skeptical look Mark barked out a laugh. "It's true kid! Darry would drop everything he was doing just to pick you up, and placed you on his shoulders. Didn't matter to him who you were, when he sow you're little head bobbing in the crowed, he just had to go get ya."

I looked up at Darry as he started laughing again. "That's also how you ended up getting the nick name as my baby Pony." He looked down at Pony, and he was able to see amusement, and love in his normally hard, ice, blue eyes.

"Yep, it was the Childers that started it first. First time Darry putt you up on his shoulders after the game, Stacy Black, the head cheerleader, asked him if you were his little baby, and Darry had told her she was close, but you're his baby brother!"

Josh, who was sitting on Mark's other side, laughed as he explained. He felt, rather thin sow, Darry shrug as he picked his card back up, silently restarting there poker game. "After that everyone, even the couch, would ask me "where Soda and my little is baby Pony", and I never felt like correcting theme."

His arm slaked a bit around Pony's waste, but he knew he still couldn't get up. The room fell into a commutable silence for the men, and a confusing one for Pony. Pony was trying to figure out how much Darry had had to drink when his older brother broke the silence.

"So Pony, why were you late? You were supposed to be home before midnight." Pony inwardly winced; he knew this had been coming. "Johnny, and Two-Bit were walking me home, but Two-Bit decided we had to stop at Buck's, so me and Johnny left him there with Dally, and I walked Johnny home."

Pony could hear the frown, and concern in Darry's voce. "His old man giving him trouble again?" Pony looked up to see Darry's friends watching theme, a little surprised, and confused. "Ya, but I told him he could come over, and crash here if he needs to."

Darry hugged him a little agene, as he nodded. "Good." The man of Darry's left, Christ, gave a little whistle as he shook his head. "Darry, you really are something, ya know that?" Pony fought back a smile at that, and spoke up before Darry could.

"We all stick together with one another. That's how it's always been since we we're all kids." Darry started laughing, a deep, real laugh that made Pony bonce a little. "Since? Kido, you're still a kid!"

Pony felt his ears heat up as the others broke out laughing as well. Taller, the man sitting right across from Darry looked up at me as he through a few more dollars into a small pile in the medal of the table.

"So Ponyboy, you're like what, 11. 12, now?" Pony tried not to pout when he heard Darry choke on his beer a little as he tried not to laugh. "No, I'm fourteen now." Taller was smirking at him, and he could tell that the older man wanted to say something about how he looked too young to be fourteen, but was holding back for Pony's sake.

"And, he's already in high school. Making state A's too." Darry had that prude look on his face again as he talked. Pony looked away embarrassed at the sudden praising he was getting from this older brother.

Trying to hide this, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes, and pulled one out. He frowned when he noticed that he had lost his matches. "Dang. Darry do we have anymore matches?" He looked up at his older brother, a slight frown pulling at his lips.

Darry cocked an eye brow, not even looking from his cards. "What happen to the ones you snatched from Steve this afternoon?" He huffed. "I think I lost theme when I ran into Curly earlier." Darky snorted in laughter as he snatched a pack of matches of the table and handed theme to Pony.

Pony happy lit up his cigarette, blowing the smoke out away from his brother. A few of the men started lagging at theme. "Darry, don't tell me you're little baby can handle a cigarette better then you ever could!"

Pony cocked an eye brow like Two-Bit and looked up at his older brother, who was shaking his head. "It's not something I'm happy bout. I swear I've even seen him go through two packs before. It's ridicules."

Pony huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ya, well you're not one to talk." He looked at Darry's friends. "He's always carrying two things of ruffing up the ladders, sometimes he even try's three."

The men started laughing even harder, and Pony took a long drag of his cigarette to cover up a yon. He looked at the clock on the kitchen wall that showed it was a little after one. Pony was now starting to feel his day catching up to him.

He leaned back a little agents Darry's chest, and continued to watch the men play there poker game, and smoke his cigarette. Lessening to them all talking, and accusingly Darry laughing, was starting to low him into a computable, Simi awake state.

He was vaguely aware of Darry taking his cigarette from him before he was pulled closer to his older brother's chest. Slowly Pony allowed sleep to overcome him until he was fast asleep with his head on Darry's chest.

Darry looked down at his fast asleep baby brother, a soft smile pulling at the corner of his lips. He looked up at his friends who hadn't noticed that Pony had fallen asleep yet. Folding his card down, he scooted his chair back as quietly as he could, gaining the other men's attention.

"What's up Darry?" Christ cocked an eye brow at him as he lifted Pony up into his arms gently, careful not to wake him up. "Im'a go putt my little baby to bed. I'll be back in a minute." He got up, and made his way to the room Pony, and Soda shared.

He walked over to the bed, and juggled holding Pony in his arms while he tried to pull the blankets down. He finally seceded in getting it done, and laid his little brother on the bed. Pulling the blankets up to his chin, he ruffled his hair before turning to leave, but was stopped as a hand grabbed his rest.

Turning back around, he was surprised to see Pony looking up at him sleepily. "Tuck 'e in?" His voice was slurred with sleep. Smiling softly Darry sat down on the edge of the bed. "I just did baby, but you got you're self-back up."

He gently pushed his baby brother back down into the pillow, and re-tucked him back up in the blankets. He smiled softly as he brushed Pony's long, greasy hair out of his face. "Did you have a good day baby?"

Pony nodded a rather large yon overcoming him. "The movie was good?" Another nod. "And two-Bit kept a close eye on you and Johnny?" Pony nodded again, his eyes falling shut tiredly. "Good." He leaned down, a pressed his lips agents Pony's forehead. "Good night baby, I love you."


End file.
